Six students at Flagler Palm Coast High School were tied Wednesday to what a district spokesperson described as “a detailed plan to conduct a coordinated plot against Flagler Palm Coast High School.” The alleged plot was to have involved guns.

No weapons were found on campus, and the students, interrogated for much of the afternoon Wednesday, were turned over to their parents. No arrests were made, though arrests are possible, a sheriff’s spokesman said, should probable cause be found. The students’ computers were seized and are being analyzed by sheriff’s office’s detectives. FPC’s school day today is unfolding as normal, with just one additional school resource deputy on campus.

The school district and sheriff’s office released only limited information–district spokesman Jason Wheeler issued a release about the incident just before 7 p.m. Wednesday–making it difficult to gauge the gravity of the situation, though so far indications are that the students may not have developed concrete plans so much as chatted about it on social media and through their computers and phones.

“We don’t want anybody to overreact but it was a detailed plan to attack the school. Were they role playing, how far did they go, we don’t know,” Wheeler said.

Making threats to attack a school is illegal. Yet for now officials don’t have enough concrete evidence to tie direct, actionable threats to the students. “When probable cause develops, if it does to charge, then we will,” Jim Troiano, the sheriff’s office’s chief spokesman, said this morning.

The school was not evacuated and students went about their day unaware of the issue involving the alleged plot. The threat-level at the school was not changed. And detectives were not called in until much later in the day, Troiano said, with administrators and school resource officers handling the questioning of the students. The students’ parents were called in to campus, but it’s not clear whether they were in the room while their children were being questioned.

The students have been suspended for at least a week, Wheeler said, though the nature of the suspension is not disciplinary. “The students were placed on ‘Administrative excusal,'” Wheeler explained. “This is a temporary excused absence. It allows administrators to complete an investigation without having to mark the students as absent and the absence won’t count against the student. Typically, it’s no more than five days.”

“Anything like this you take very seriously, so the concern of course is real,” Colleen Conklin, who chairs the school board, said. Superintendent Jacob Oliva informed her by phone of the incident Wednesday in late afternoon. “We feel our campuses are safe today, and the matter is being appropriately investigated I think it would be irresponsible for anyone at this time to comment while the investigation is going on. I have not received conformation of exactly what this is. We don’t know yet what exactly it is. But you have to take every single one of these situations ans scenarios very, very seriously.”

The district is not disclosing what ages the students are or what grades they’re in, only that they’re six boys. A brief incident report the sheriff’s office issued this morning lists seven boys, all of them 14, with one exception, a 15 year old.

School officials were tipped off of the alleged plot when a bomb threat was emailed to Bunnell Elementary Wednesday morning. The email was traced back to the account of a student at FPC. School officials determined that threat to be groundless. But in the process, they discovered the alleged plot and its connection to the six students. Social media was involved. Phones were also seized.

“We do not know at this point what their motivation was,” Troiano said, noting the possibility of a couple of motives, “one being they were acting out something, or this could have been a legitimate threat.” There was no need to bring in bomb-sniffing dogs, however, and the school was not subjected to a search during school hours. “No weapons or destructive devices that we know of,” Troiano said. School dismissed as scheduled at 2 p.m., with the six students involved in the alleged plot still being questioned.

“We’re uncertain as to the legitimacy of the threat, it was there, we’re uncertain as to the intent, so we’re trying to find out more,” Troiano said. “If there was a larger threat different action would have been taken, such as evacuating the school, bringing in bomb dogs and those kinds of things but based on our investigation that wasn’t necessary.” He added: “Not every threat to a school has to be a Columbine or that kind of threat, it’s not, sometimes these kids they act out, they role play and we have to look at these things very carefully but take them very seriously, and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

57 Responses for “6 Students Implicated in “Detailed Plan to Attack” Flagler Palm Coast High School, No Arrests”

I really have a problem with letting these kids back on school grounds for ANY reason. They need to be put in an alternative program… and hopefully the parents will cooperate and allow sheriffs to search their rooms and homes for weapons that are not supposed to be there.

According to Wheeler “We don’t want anybody to overreact but it was a detailed plan to attack the school” (para.4). For someone to make a threat against another school in our county, and then involve five other classmates to take part in a detailed attack on FPC is very alarming to me as a parent. There seems to be mixed messages from the Mr. Jim Traiano. He felt there was no need bring in the dogs or do a search, but they are taking “these things” very seriously. I would prefer the extra precaution of a search and/or dogs. It would give the parents & students a tiny bit more sense of security when we are sending them to school. I truly hope that this threat is looked through with a fine tooth comb.

Could almost guarantee these kids are white just by the stance the school is taking. If I’m wrong I apologize. If I’m not they should get the same treatment or more that this innocent kid got. Remember him?

I have a student at FPC. I don’t feel as if they are taking this threat seriously enough. 1 week suspension? Administrative excusal? They made a threat to shoot up the school, and they are going to allow them back next week? Sounds like they are to busy excusing these boys than keeping the students safe! a threat like this deserves expulsion at the VERY least . I feel as if they have no clue what they are doing

Let’s see now… paragraph one, “The alleged plot was to have involved guns. ” And as FPC Parent mentions from Jason Wheeler, “We don’t want anybody to overreact…” And the good news is from Colleen Conklin in paragraph eight, “We feel our campuses are safe today..” And finally, from paragraph nine we learn these children are ages 14 to 15 years old.

Are these kids related to the school administrators or am I missing something?

I agree I have children in Bunnell and Buddy Taylor and if this was to be a very serious situation, I don’t know about anyone else but I want my children safe. My 6 year old doesn’t know any better so bring in the dogs. What are they good for if you don’t use them. Kids do act out so how do anyone know what they might have sent to Bunnell or FPC. That I would say is a bad choice to not follow through with the safety of our children. Concernd parent

So, just a slap on the wrist for imposing a bomb threat on a school full of hundreds of lives? Something here doesn’t quite add up, this behavior is unacceptable and should be treated as so. Some sick twisted minds obviously screaming for help. This shouldn’t be looked at as another “childish” act, America has seen children develop into the adults that actually do these bombings. This should be acted upon as a crime, (because it is) and nipped at the bud.

Taking the threat seriously, yet not expelling the students? Why should these 6 or 7 students get special treatment? They are on administrative excusal for making a “serious” threat,they should NOT be allowed back to FPC at all! This is unbelievably ridiculous, so now other students will see that when the school says they take these types of threats “seriously” they will get a 5 day vacation and can just use the excuse “oh were just role playing for giggles.” Come on is this county really full of people that dense? I don’t want my child at a school that is basically giving the okay to kids to do/say whatever they want and get away with it, what’s the school going to do if these boys come back and actually go through with their plans? Tell everyone these boys were just playing a game and didn’t know what would happen???

You guys want to assume all 6 of these kids has the same involvement if any more than being in a text or email. Nowhere did it say there was a threat to shoot up the school. They can not expell anyone until the police investigation is done. Depending on the outcome none may even get expelled. If this was any of your kids you would want a complete investigation before anything was put on your child’s record.

Counseling for the kids AND the parents of these kids should be made mandatory for these kids to EVER be allowed back into a mainstream school environment. Before any of them are allowed back, an evaluation of each every kid involved should be conducted. And this group of kids should not be placed in the same classes as each other, if it is possible to arrange that.

Do you people read? They are admin leave until the investigation is over. The people responsible will be held accountable the poor kids that going threw this because of association only are going to suffer enough.

i know all the people that were involved and i can assure anyone who reads this that this shouldn’t be taken seriously. The plan to shoot up the school was a joke taken to far. Ive seen the plans and they even confirmed it with me it was a joke. But for the bomb threat it was 2 of the same people in that group chat which pretended to be someone else (a person also in that group chat) but they admitted over text that they did it. It should be handled from what i have heard.

ok, but I wonder… is one of them a son of someone in position?? that’s usually the case when they are let off with a slap on the wrist.. 5 days excused absence…hmmmm No matter if it’s only acting out something or not.. they need to know the seriousness of this kind of act..

Did you read the article Flagler parent? Or was one of these students your child? The very first paragraph indicates that the “detailed, coordinated plot against FPCHS was to involve guns” and then later an email was sent to the elementary school with a bomb threat. Yes it should be investigated, however my childs safety supersedes these children’s permanent record. They are in highschool and by now should understand the difference between right and wrong. There will never be anything funny about making threats or being involved with people that make threats.

As the parent of a junior at fpc, and 3 other graduates from there in the last 4 years..and 2 more in 5th &6th. So yes I know a thing or two about our schools, and we (all parents) demand that all threats be taken and responded to as eminent danger! What ever happened to zero tolerance?? Today’s threat or idea can quickly become tomorrow’s action.

While I was in school and we had a threat we had extra security and police K-9s on the campus to make sure the(us) students were safe. The fact that the kids have planned out a threat to FPC angers me, kids should be focusing on school and grades.. not trying to mess up their school careers.

You people love to jump to the worst conclusion. No arrests were made and it’s being investigated. So I am sure the final outcome will come out. Every article about this says something different so until there is hard set in stone facts posted I agree with the administrative leave. You can’t just ruin someone’s record without facts. As a parent you all should understand this as you wouldn’t want your kids ruined in error potentially.

If you bring yard clippings to school and call it Marijuana you get arrested, plan to do a shooting you are suspended. Something is wrong here. Election year or not the sheriff’s office must act, they can not brush this to the side and let the community forget about it. It will be to late and someone else will do something expecting the same slap on the wrist.

Paranoid parents settle down. There was NO GUNS found. There wasn’t even a good cause to arrest them. Six little high school punks talking crap on their little electronic devices. CHILL OUT ! Its no wonder this country is in the condition it is now because everyone is afraid of their own shadow.

So let me get this straight. These juveniles threaten to shoot up the school & don’t get expelled because it’s not a “serious threat”. Yet my daughter & 2 other girls start a food fight & not only did they get expelled, but they had to do community service & go to another school. SMDH!!

First, I am so disappointed that people in our community are so quick to believe media and jump to conclusions. The facts have not yet come to light and should be fully investigated well before any posts or articles are made public. I can testify that two students found a website that allows anyone to put in anyone else’s email into the site and send anything they want. These students have been cyber bullying one of the students and then used the website to send a threatening email to a school principal. The email that was used was of the victim in this cyber attack. School and law officials confirmed this! This is a cyber attack on a student as well as false impersonation. These two criminals admitted to the crime, yet the schools decide to hold this information? Why? Maybe because this all happened on school computers during the school day! The victim even reported this to administration! Who is watching the student computers and how do these kids have access to this stuff? Young teenagers playing a prank or not, school officials are responsible for allowing these cyber bullies to walk the halls and the school is clueless??? Aren’t students in school to learn? Again, all of this happened during school hours for over a month!!!! I am sickened and shocked and hope the schools are held accountable! My thoughts and prayers go to the victim and his family! I also truly pray that people collect facts before reacting! How about we focus on teaching our youth the dangers of cyber bullying and Internet use, instead of assuming they know!?!?!

Anyone who does not take this serious should go talk to the family members who lost their child due to these threats that became actions before pushing these threats under the radar. Ignorance breeds more ignorance- it’s become an epidemic of lack of impulse control adults and innocent children have learned this is acceptable behavior.

The inconsistencies in discipline are unacceptable. Isn’t that “Parenting 101?” Isn’t that “Classroom management 101?” Consistency. And yet there will be teachers who will be evaluated and criticized for classroom management by the very same people who have mishandled this situation. And students who will bi victimized by such inconsistencies. Fairness matters. No matter what means were available or not, bottom line – these students appear to have engaged in terroristic threats. That is a crime.

Police will do what they legally can. But I feel the kids involved should not be allowed on any school’s grounds for now. Their parents can home school them until further information is known. If the parents do not allow police access to gain more information or if they impede the investigation, then I feel the school has the right to expel these kids. Their rights to free public education do not supercede the rights of the other students to remain safe.

Maybe their parents should have told them to protest peacefully by destroying a WW2 monument or refusing to stand for the national anthem. Doesn’t matter they are probably just protesting something. It’s their right!!!!!!!

Absolutely, what’s the matter with some of these parents. I am sorry but if you believe your child belongs back in FPC with a computer with a slap on the hand. Boy you need to step back and view this from our side. I will always protect and love my children too, but wrong is wrong. With that comes punishment. It doesn’t mean I don’t love my child it means I must teach you to be a better adult. At that time, yes that child may push me away and be mad and give me heck, but too bad. This is not name calling where you pull Jonny aside and say we don’t treat people like that. This is a bomb threat, this is a plan to hurt fellow high school students. No matter what this is not a joke. People are scared nowadays and they knew it and played the cards. So now they should receive the fitting punishment. just you know just for s_its and giggles.

It all comes down to parenting, it appears some of these kids are left to wonder aimlessly towards a life of unrest and maybe crime. You would think these 14 -15 year olds know the implications of even pretending to do what they had “planned”. Even in a pretend world that failure falls to the parents. Uncle Buck lives in a blind reality and forgets about Columbine, Sandy Hook, Madison Junior-Senior High School in Middletown, Ohio., and all of these. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_school_shootings_in_the_United_States

Yep these are just kids, students who are either bored with life, bored with their parents bored with school or their lack of friends, being bullied or just plain mental.

My daughter told me last night that one of these boys is the same one that set another students hair on fire last year a BTMS. These children have problems and obviously his last slap on the wrist did not scare him. I am sure the others have issues too. When is the time to act? Far to often it is to late. We can say they are just children goofing around, but if my son or daughter life even has a chance of being in danger I am pissed off and want something done.

Excused absence I don’t believe that they should be in with the school population. But they also should not be home relaxing and playing games. They should be in a place receiving some firm of detention. This sort touch only encourages thus type of behavior.

Not only should all the students involved in this plan be expelled from school…. All the administration that felt it was not worthy of closing the schools and or at the very least notifying parents that this was a potential tragedy .They should be removed as well.

I am so glad everyone believes everything the papers say because they of course don’t have the whole story and have twisted what they do have. Not all 6 sent a email threat…. 1 kid did and not all 6 kids were involved in some plot there was a group text and all 6 kids in that chat are out of school no matter if they even said a word in the chat. So as all would love to assume we have 6 bad kids we don’t we have 1 or 2 who decided this was something funny and is dragging everyone else down with them until the investigation is done. Once its done then something will be done to the student responsible but not all 6 kids are responsible for this some are just in the wrong chat with the wrong people.

Palm Coast and Flagler County is a dump. My wife and I came here 13 years ago and it was nice. Since that time the dump has filled up with a very large number of scum. We could never get our money back from our house or else we would sell and get out of here. I would be much better off if a sink hole just swallowed this place when we were out of town.

George, You are a voice of reason in this mess. One kid is responsible and not all six. They are being dragged through the mud for merely being included in a chat room whether they responded or not. Hope the detectives get it right and these kids can get on with their lives.

Hey George, it wasn’t a joke the bomb threat was a red herring thrown out there for something additional that was planned. Everyone is chasing the wording and press release, keep chasing your tail, its a distraction. The real plot hasn’t been revealed to the public yet. Maybe they weren’t all willing participants in planning or co-conspiring none the less not one of them reported anything to the police or school officials to prove they weren’t involved.

Wow. Administrative excusal?!! If anyone even makes a hand sign of a gun they are expelled. These students should not be allowed back at that school at all or any school for that matter. And they should be arrested. I think our school board needs more schooling. Palm coast is the worst area for schooling.

Everyone assumes they will make public the information on this and I do not see that happening. Only these students know what was going on and people don’t believe their friends are crazy. What does the public want them arrested for? Being in a group text where I am sure video games were the main topic. The public is trying to jump the gun and potentially ruin 6 kids lives for something only 1 had anything to do with it. No one knows what was really going on I mean for all we know they were creating a video game and used the school as their dialogue as I know they have a class for gaming as well as a video game club. Everyone is so fast to believe everything they read and I for one hope they release the whole story to clear these poor boys names who are being punished for 1 kid who obviously have some issues going on.

I agree Betsy it’s very sad and the public and their nonsense when they don’t even know is unreal. My children all went through this school system and I never jumped to conclusions based on the press because usually it wasn’t the whole story.

George, let’s not jump to conclusions about the press either: we are severely restricted in the reporting of these issues by the lack of transparency from the sheriff’s office and the school district, both of which hide behind the pretense of either “ongoing investigations” or student privacy to keep a much thicker veil on the facts than necessary, thus often raising more questions than answering them.

Completely agreed this causes more assumptions than help in most cases like this one I believe. People forget there are 3 sides to a story and in a lot of cases the final outcome of things is never followed up on. Sad how community is so quick to point fingers at people